Wednesday 3 August 2011

The Jin Roh Lookalikes Association meeting...



While in games and movies characters with body armor are very common, characters with glowing eye goggles are common, characters dressed all in black are common and characters based off German military designs are common, the Kerberos Panzer Cops were the first to blend them all into one very cool looking character design. The image of the hard shell mask, breathing tubes, helmet and red glowing eyes has become very iconic, and some franchises (in particular Killzone) have downright copied the look, and with the success of such franchises many more have appeared (particularly in the gaming industry) with similar looking designs. Of course, there are also many designs that are unintentionally similar, and some characters that bear some resemblance such as Darth Vader pre-date the Kerberos design.
So why are there so many similar looking characters out there????? Because 'the look' is just so darn awesome, and I love it all! So I thought I'd dedicate this post to the top 20 (imo) Jin Roh lookalikes of the world (real and fictional) for your viewing pleasure...

1: Bad dudes from: Final Fantasy VIII (game). Likely designed with killzone in mind, the resemblance is uncanny!

2: Kainan from: Outlander (movie). I totally dig those four eye helmets!



3: AD police (manga/anime series)


4: Zombie German soldier from: Sucker Punch (movie). Wait a second, he looks familiar...




5: Helghast from: Killzone (game series). Almost a direct copy of the Kerberos mask. And everyone thought it was so original in the west. If only they knew the truth...


6: Waffen SS Panzer Daemon from: Operation Darkness (game). What is it with Xbox and Jin Roh rip-offs?!



7: Russian Spetsnaz from: Hitman (movie). A lot of folks actually thought these were Kerberos Protect Gears. Seriously, about 5 people said that they saw the Kerberos turn up in Hitman. It's easy to see why...





8: Deep Eyes from: Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within (movie). OK, so they aren't that similar, but those glowing eyes just bring Jin Roh to mind every time I see them


9: Bad dude from: Turok (game series). Hang on, didn't we do him already? No? Oh, OK then...


10: Phantom Soldiers from: Phantom Soldiers (movie). hard shell mask? Check. Black uniform? Check. German styling? Check. Machine gun and bullet belts? Check f***ing check! Time to blow stuff up and chew bubblegum!



11: Ubersoldat from: Wolfenstein (game series). Erm, wasn't he number 6 in the list? No? Gah! They all look the same! If you see a guy wearing armor and glowing goggles in a game just shoot him, he is obviously a generic bad guy...




12: Firespectre from: a comic (I think). Never read into the background, I just call him Kerberos fireman....


13: Orc armor from: Appleseed (anime/manga series). Hang on, wasn't this in Turok?


14: Last battalion soldiers from: Images of the Last Battalion (short film). No surprise these look like Kerberos, the guy who made the short film was inspired by Kerberos Saga and the short film got Mamoru Oshii's approval.


15: Major Maxim from: Danger Girl (comic or something, I dunno). Need a bad guy but you have no idea how to design him? Just take a German officer and give him a gas mask with glowing red eyes and breathing tubes. voila!


16: Tokyo Police from: Tokyo Gore Police (movie). OK, not that similar, but they look cool and have red eye lens goggles. And armor. And they are dressed in black. And they are violent police. OK, so they are similar.


17: Main hero from: Dark Lurking (movie). lame B movie, lazy design. Yawn.


18: Riot Police from: Peru (the nation. Really). The real life Kerberos! Just give them gas masks with glowing red eyes! That'll scare rioters into conformity!


19: Darth Vader from: Star Wars (movie, novel, game and comic series). Probably the most obvious influence on the Kerberos design, Vader's iconic mask is embedded in pop culture the world over.


20: The main character from: Fallout: New Vegas (game). Because video games must now include glowing eyed, gas masked, helmeted, gun toting characters for their posters, coz, you know, they look awesome and stuff.


And of course all these are based on german soldiers from: wwi and wwii (history).

So there is my list. Do you disagree with any of my choices? Or do you have suggestions for additions to the list? Let me know in the comments!

21 comments:

  1. Hello
    Yes that is TRUE!! REAL LIFE KERBEROS)) from Peru they looks nice but anyway Japanese Kerberos are BEST!

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  2. 100%!!!
    Japanese Are BEST!!
    KERBEROS it is MASTERPIECE!

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  3. absolutely! im just patiently waiting to find out if the kerberos panzer jager figure is going to be released... i hope it isnt cancelled, ive been waiting for it since 2008!

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  4. heres the jin roh version for very cheap! http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d121317427
    and wide release for good price: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=7618054535

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello
    Thanks!

    and by the way i dont understand

    in the Stray Dog movie Inui was died??

    i watched but not all the movie
    i watched only until Shootout in Taiwan imn abandoned Building
    and after read wikipedia that Inui was Died it is true???

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  6. inui does die in the end, but i will not spoil how. koichi lives and his story is in the red spectacles

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. OHHH that is sad
    because Inui are great Character
    and why Japanese story makers Kill all the good guys? Hmm Strange

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  9. well, inui died in the comics, so thats why he dies in the movie. also, in the kerberos saga, the main characters arent always good, theres a lot of moral ambiguity...

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  10. Hello
    i know that in the Kerberos saga not all main characters are good
    but Inui was So GOOD!!
    so i am sad that he was died

    by the way
    last night i GOT wide release!!!!

    COOL!!!!
    by the way MG42 are the same but moving parts are better especially bipods
    and Barrel change door
    about figure

    well Sighed edition and wide release are AMAZING! and i cannot judge which is the best
    because for me they both the best!
    some parts are different and i love both of them

    p.s

    there is my blog about Kerberos also

    http://sosezi-kerberospanzercop.blogspot.com/


    i wrote about BOOK and will post more

    please tell me how it is?

    p.p.s
    i dont copy nothing from your blog and etc
    so please dont worry
    all the items it is my items and my own opinion

    ReplyDelete
  11. congratulations on getting wide release!

    i added your blog to the recommended sites! great photos of tokyo war!

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  12. Thank you!!
    i appreciate your words

    p.s i will upload more photos!
    so please watch

    and by the way in the Tokyo war are great photos of Kerberos Life
    Greatest desigh and Looks Historically Correct
    very Cool Sci-Fi!

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  13. about HITMAN Movie
    Hmmm looks cheap compared with Kerberos

    and in russia there are NO Spetsnaz like that
    if it is Sci Fi i understand
    but Hitman the movie
    its about real life so i think it was Fail

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  14. by the way
    i wanna add you to recommended sites
    how to do it??

    i am new there so please help me if you can ok?

    ReplyDelete
  15. tokyo war certainly is cool!
    hitman technically is sci-fi, as it takes place in a alternative contempory history with similar but different technology, so under that creative freedom they designed what they thought looked cool without consideration of real designs. but i do agree, the design of the spetsnaz was not very realistic, and impractical in many areas...
    to add to recommended sites there should be an option in the gadgest list in the blog design, add websites or something. j

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  16. Thank you!!
    will try to add your blog to recommended sites

    p.s about Hitman Agreed 100% with you

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  17. Great roundup! Panzer Cop still seems the most original and well thought out of the genre.

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  18. thanks! and totally agree, the panzer cop is still the best balance, and far more realistic than most of the designs. j

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  19. Because it is not too much fantastic i think
    in the Panzercop armor almost all are real

    ReplyDelete

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